Customer Reviews

Streisand: Live In Concert (2 CD's)

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Barbra Streisand has now released six lives albums / CDs during her prodigeous career, each one unique in representing her at specific times in her legendary journey as an entertainer and artist. This new recording is a more casual and nostalgic affair than anything she's done live, and is much the better for it. While "Live in Concert 2006" shows a bit of "wear and tear" in her vocal ability, that's like saying Maria Callas hit a wrong note. Streisand is now 65 and still doing it her way. What she may have lost in range and suppleness as the result of age, she more than makes up for with her interpretive skills and her pitch-perfect phrasing. This lady knows how to deliver a song like no one alive.

What's most exciting about this CD is that the song selection almost completey ignores more obvious choices (we've gotten them on other dics...now was the time to stretch and, boy, did she) for songs she has rarely performed or has never recorded before. The opening overture, which is the complete overture from her classic Broadway show "Funny Girl", let's you know you are in for some time capsule offerings that no one else could surpass. In fact, many songs from "Funny Girl" permeate the disc, as do several esoteric songs Streisand recorded earlier in her career that were exquisite non-hits. Brilliant.

Yes, there's the obligatory duets with Il Divo, but Streisand has always managed to channel her old-time glamour into one or another of the current pop crop, almost always with sterling results (Neil Diamond, Donna Summer, Johnny Mathis, Barry Gibbs...and the list goes on). Streisand's show business savvy has continued to make her relevant to generation after generation.

Finally, Streisand's in-between-song patter is a real treat here. Less formal and polemic than on other recordings, she is humorous, warm, folksy and quite self-deprecating. A delightful performance.

Streisand will hopefully continue to record for years to come because this CD proves that her talent is not only still intact, but relevant and delightfully dextrous. Lucky for the record buying public.

A true artist, Streisand has been evolving since her first recordings and continues to. When she first came on the scene I thought "As she moves on she will be less shrill and become more subtle." She became less shrill and more subtle. And then later I thought "As she moves on she will become less concerned with perfection and more interested in living, breathing artistry, imperfections and all." She became less concerned with perfection and more interested in living, breathing artistry. And then I thought, "She's always thought of herself as an actress who sings but eventually she will come more to live the songs as she sings rather than portraying a character singing them." That progression is fully evident on this album. As is the happiness of this stage of her life which has allowed her to relax, enjoy and be comfortable on stage. The bottom line on Barbra is she has never, ever stopped studying, has never stopped learning, has never stopped, in the words of one of her best songs, being ready to "Move On." I think she is singing more magnificently than ever, I think she is an even deeper artist (and that's saying something about an artist who began very deep), I think she is even wiser (and she was always wise) and I think what comes from her reveals more than ever her very heart--which is above all ethical and truthful and in some ways holy. I met her once and was so impressed by the person--not the star, not the diva (didn't see anything like that) but the person. I've first hand experienced her kindness and generosity. My theory has always been that only someone who suffered terribly as a child could as an adult bring forth the emotion, insight, understanding and passion she has brought to her art. It's all here in this album to be experienced over and over. It's not only a thrilling listening experience, it's a master class in achieving excellence.

I've studied the voice for years and years, and have always been literally amazed at the reach and the far-beyond-the-reach results that this one-of-a kind artist has given the world. There never has been, isn't now, nor ever will be another like Barbra Streisand. I've followed her through show music, pop, disco, back to pop, into theater music and movie music, and of course, the treasured, rare live performances, such as this one. I've accepted her personal feelings to be what they are and have cheered her every step of the way and will always do so. So, to have a glorious live recording of her recent concert tour is a joy indeed. The best thing about this recording, other than the utterly flawless technical sheen of the actual sound, is the fact that Barbra Streisand has finally seemed to mellow, to enjoy life, and, most wonderfully, to embrace performing. She sounds charming and relaxed in her spoken passages, and she can still send notes through the roof of the stadium with enormous power and grace. It's a treat to hear songs that she hasn't sung in years and to hear numbers that she's not recorded before. Just about anything that Ms. Streisand chooses to do for the public is a genuine thrill for someone who has been a devout fan for decades. But, and this is the melancholy part, if you've studied her voice for years so much that you know exactly how it has sounded across the almost 45 years she's been a professional, you'll know that her range has diminshed slightly, her top notes have to be finessed without full power, and that the timbre has darkened and deepened. These are not bad things, because she remains the one and only of her kind, and everything existing so clearly in our memory must bear witness to time's effects. But it's heart-tugging for me to hear her age reflected in her singing voice. I've listened to this album repeatedly over the past week, because it's a terrific concert, but I've also found myself with a heavy heart sometimes in hearing the changes in her vocal prowess that are only natural. She is still, and will continue to be, my personal superwoman figure and someone whom I admire more than any words could possibly communicate. But the tears that I now shed when she sings are for both of us, because if Barb's getting older, than I am as well.

For those who attended one of Barbra Streisand's twenty concerts last fall, there's no reason to explain this release. For those of you who missed it, this is a chance to hear what all the fuss was about - and trust me, the fuss was worth it.

"Live In Concert 2006" is a two-CD collection capturing the finest performances from her record-breaking tour. This audio event is absolutely breathtaking, and is honestly the warmest and most excited Barbra has ever come off in a live performance. You can sense that she really enjoyed this tour. The two CD's contain 32 tracks, which include 22 songs culled from performances recorded in New York, Washington D.C. and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The album includes Streisand staples that have been heard on several of her greatest hits collections and five previous live albums. But to be fair, there would've been a backlash against Barbra from longtime fans had she omitted these songs.

Disc One is a treat to hear, with Streisand recreating her 60's heyday when she was the toast of Broadway, television, films and nightclubs with songs she hasn't sung since they were performed all those years ago. The album kicks off with a recreation of the original overture from the Broadway musical Funny Girl that was supremely orchestrated under the supervision of musical conductor Bill Ross. Enter Streisand, and she opens the disc with a spine-tingling divalicious rendition of "Starting Here, Starting Now," a song she first sang and recorded in 1966. It's almost as if Barbra needed to open the show and prove that she can still wow the audience forty-six years into her career. It worked. This woman can still deliver the goods. After her "opening remarks" about how she felt the need to raise money for issues that needed to be addressed in today's climate, she launched into a spectacular rendition of "Down With Love." After the crowd-pleasing "The Way We Were," Barbra's vocals glide effortlessly over the Harold Arlen classic "Come Rain Or Come Shine." Another track on the disc includes the first song Barbra ever composed, entitled "Ma Premiere Chanson," lifted from her 1966 masterpiece Je m'appelle Barbra. Other never-before-performed live songs include a set that weighs heavy on Funny Girl, which includes a moving and haunting version of the title song, plus a sample of "The Music That Makes Me Dance" (the song that was featured in the Broadway production) and a rousing and emotional delivery of "My Man," as well as her signature song "People," which is complete with the original introduction.



Disc Two wisely manages to keep the show fresh by reinventing some of her staples with her special guests, Il Divo, with new interpretations of "Somewhere," "Music of the Night" and "Evergreen (From Disc One)," which was sung partially in English and partially in Italian. The highlight is when she ventures into uncharted territory with songs she has never recorded or performed before, including a gorgeous rendition of "Unusual Way" from the Broadway musical Nine, "The Time of Your Life" (a reading from writer William Saroyan), which was the perfect segue for the next track, a vocal tour de force of "A Cockeyed Optimist." The other never-before-performed standard is a stunning interpretation of "My Shining Hour." She closes the show with a reprise of "Don't Rain On My Parade," lifted from the Broadway production of Funny Girl, and a simple yet stunning interpretation of "Smile."

As I write this, I'm listening to my newly purchased 2-disc "Live in Concert 2006" and I'm reminded once again that Barbra's is the premiere pop voice of the last almost fifty years. At age 65 she reminds us (as if we, her fans, need any reminder) that so much of what passes for music nowadays is simply unacceptable and mediocre...but that Barbra, forty-five to fifty years after she first burst onto the scene, is still a force of nature, an incomparable artist, almost without peer...no, make that "without peer." For all of you youngsters rating this album, let me offer that I saw Barbra live in Soldier Field in Chicago back in 1967...one of her stops on her Million Dollar Baby Tour. All of these years later as I listen to her in concert on this latest double CD, I can honestly say her voice doesn't do what it did forty years ago. The voice is much more mature, sometimes husky, sometimes showing slight strain...but it's a voice that has managed to remain near perfect enough to raise the hairs on the back of my neck as she reprises songs from albums years ago...I'm amazed at the frequent moments she sounds just as
fine now as she did then. This is a live performance to treasure!

Her lower register has developed a burnished throatiness, and some of her more precocious high notes escape her now. However, the lustrous glow of her voice is still very much in evidence, and the melisma and dramatic conviction remain unparalleled. In her mid-sixties, Barbra Streisand is a willful force of nature, a multi-media conglomerate based on a most singular persona, and easily the most accomplished song stylist of her generation. As expected, her Fall 2006 tour was as much a commemoration of her nearly half-century career as it was a cause célèbre for her renowned liberal causes via her foundation. I was fortunate to have seen her in San Jose in mid-November, and even if this was recorded earlier in her tour in New York, Washington, D.C. and Ft. Lauderdale, this two-disc set represents a wonderful remembrance of that evening, as well as a pristine document of a beautifully turned performance for those who missed it.

First things first, the concert is not the therapeutic exercise in self-introspection like Streisand's two previous comebacks (1994's Barbra: The Concert or 2000's Timeless: Live in Concert). She is much more relaxed with her stage patter this time and with her political conscience on relatively limited display. Neither the comedy sketch nor the pointed duets with George W. Bush impersonator Steve Bridges are included here, nor the heckling that inspired her infamous retort. Played by a 58-piece orchestra, the opening is a rousing rendition of the Broadway overture from Funny Girl, which leads to Streisand's enthusiastically greeted entrance as she sonorously sings her long-ago stand-by, "Starting Here, Starting Now". She makes a comically studied attempt at the piano to re-introduce us to her first composition, the very Gallic-flavored "Ma Premiere Chanson" (which in hindsight, sounds very much like "Lost Inside of You" from A Star Is Born).

Many of her fan favorites were expected and are accounted for here by necessity - "People", "Don't Rain on My Parade", "The Way We Were", "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" - with the arrangements almost the same as the recorded versions but with her immaculate professionalism still making them sound fresh. There is a decidedly sentimental Funny Girl medley in which she sings the title song and "My Man" from the film version, as well as the torchy ballad, "The Music That Makes Me Dance", from the Broadway version. The second disc contains welcome additions to her repertoire - Maury Yeston's wistful "Unusual Way" from the musical Nine; Harold Arlen's WWII-era chestnut, "My Shining Hour"; and a galloping take on Rodgers and Hammerstein's "A Cockeyed Optimist" from South Pacific combined fittingly with an excerpt from William Saroyan's "The Time of Your Life".

Songs from her early performing years are sprinkled throughout - a smoky nightclub version of "Down With Love", the poignantly evocative "(Have I Stayed) Too Long at the Fair?", and of course, her signature song, the slow-tempo version of "Happy Days Are Here Again". If there is one misstep on this recording, it is not Streisand's per se but the unsubtle bombast of the stentorian popera group, Il Divo, on three ensemble tracks - "Evergreen", "The Music of the Night" and "Somewhere". The concert ends appropriately with her touching rendition of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile", though Barnes and Noble offers a bonus track in their package, "When the Sun Comes Out" which she remembers as the song that caused her stage fright in Central Park (A Happening in Central Park). If this turns out to be Streisand's valedictory live recording, it is a most worthy one.

Well she's done it again - gone & impressed the hell out of me just by being herself. I feel that this is Barbra at the most comfortable I've ever seen on stage, comfortable with her life, her self, and her place in history. The woman is truly remarkable and while yeah, there's a little showing of age on a note or two (and a "senior moment", which I got a good laugh at, even though I'm not!) - there's still no mistaking that unbelievable talent there for the taking. An amazing performance - her voice gets stronger through the performance and I highly recommend this brilliant concert to anyone who wants to hear a legend perform. Very much worth the money you might spend on this product, and I only hope that there is a DVD release planned as well.

Brilliant recording, great songs, just enough flavour of the concert without too much talking, not enough singing. Nice to see Herself allow the imperfections that make her human, but still so far above the most perfect of anyone else. She is a treasure of the world.

The 2006 concert tour was a shock for those who heard from Babs that her 2000 Concert would be her last, she lied and thank god she did! The album got 5 stars (from me) for the following: Production, Orchestration, Song selection (its great to hear the really OLD songs from the vast Streisand Catalog) and finally for Babs herself. The addition of Il Divo is joke! A Woman of such legendary status, especially with the amount of adoration and respect Babs commands does NOT need help from a group of guys who sound like they're warbling their way through songs. Of course, Babs is older here and her voice does show its age but what can you expect from a DIVA who has spent the last 40+ years singing, producing albums, movies and solid concert tours? Listen and be amazed at how an older Barbra still commands a HUGE presence on stage!

Has the album been worth the wait? Absolutely!

I had the privilege of attending Barbra's concert in Boston and Ft. Lauderdale and the exquisite voice of this singer and the perfect way the show was put togehter is worth to live again and again listening to this wonderful CD.
The wonderful appearance of IL DIVO in Evergreen, Music of the Night and Somewhere and the new songs that Barbra sang (especially Unusual Way, Cockeyed Optimist and My Shining Hours) made this album a MUST in every Barbra's fan collection.
Enjoy the music !!!